1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a radiation protective material, and more particularly to a radiation shield sheet for blocking radiation from passing therethrough.
2. Description of Related Arts
It is well known that, nowadays, most people, especially those in developed countries, have gained the knowledge and are aware of that radiation can in itself bring disastrously and destructively harmful effect to human beings because of its extremely high penetrating ability and power carried along. The huge penetrating power of radiation means it can penetrate the cells of all human beings and virtually all standard materials by which people utilize to shield themselves in various circumstances, such as concrete for building houses. The immense amount of power carried by radiation means that it possesses the disastrously destructive ability to ‘pump’ extremely large amount of energy to virtually everything in a split-second.
In reality, proper control of radioactive materials, in a contrary following from the above description of the nature of radiation, actually helps in boosting up the living standard of human beings. One of the well-known examples is X-ray diagnosis. Others are cancer treating, laser machining, retrieving information in compact discs etc. Thus, the actual story is radiation of various degrees have various influences in a variety of circumstances. Their influences are highly context-specific, though radiation shields are still indispensable in protecting people who, for some reason, expose themselves to radiation at various levels.
Conventional radiation shield involves at least a layer of radiation-inadmissible material, lead in relation to gamma radiation for example, which is coated on other materials or structures such as walls or fabrics which are to be exposed to radiation of various kinds. By the virtue of these arrangements, the materials or structures involved are capable of acting as a shelter to a particular kind of radiation wherein a person can be able to utilize them to attenuate the amount of radiation reaching them, so as to reduce the potential harmful effect generated within his/her body.
Yet the conventional radiation shields lack either sufficient flexibility or acceptable durability. This proposition can be shown on the grounds that, conventionally, the radiation-inadmissible materials which are usually coated on a relatively smooth object, such as walls or fabrics, are thick and heavy to sufficiently affect the normal operation of the objects being coated. As a convention, one needs to compromise that in order to provide sufficient radiation shielding from the radiation-inadmissible materials concerned, it must be coated on targeted objects with considerable thickness which further induces considerable weights to the end product. Inflexibility thus becomes one of the pressing problems revolving around conventional radiation shields. This factor is of overriding significance with one who comes to deal with fabric radiation shield, for the comfort and the normal operations of the fabric are extremely vulnerable to increased thickness and weight.
Furthermore, the binding between the radiation-inadmissible material and the object to be coated is often unsatisfactory. As a matter of fact, it is known technically that, for textile materials, the purity of the metal coating provided on the textile material by the conventional non-electrolytical plating process is unsatisfactory and that the crystallinity of the plated metal coating is insufficient, and therefore, the electroconductivity of the metallized textile material is unsatisfactory.
These all lead to a need for developing a more durable, effective, and flexible radiation shielding in order to provide effective protection of mainly electromagnetic radiation to people who frequently encounter such kind of radiation.